The Left Democratic Front (LDF) will seek legal action, including a possible expedited hearing in the Supreme Court, against the Election Commission of India’s (EC) special intensive review (SIR) in the short run ahead of local polls and the 2026 assembly elections, which could disenfranchise an estimated 50 Kerala voters.
LDF convener TP Ramakrishnan accused the EC of abandoning its constitutionally mandated impartiality. He claimed that the panel had become a junior political partner of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Mr. Ramakrishnan said the EC had revealed a hardline political bias by not respecting the unanimous resolution passed by the Kerala Assembly against the SIR. In contrast, the EC granted a reprieve from SIR to Maharashtra and Assam, both BJP-ruled states.
“Judge”
He said a related case was pending before the Supreme Court against SIR. A verdict in the case was awaited. “However, the EC seems undeterred and is ready to risk contempt of court for its political masters,” he added.
‘It doesn’t make sense’
Mr. Ramakrishnan said that SIR in Kerala is unnecessary. “Kerala’s electoral roll was revised only in 2024 for the Lok Sabha elections. Further revision does not make any legal or political sense,” he added.
The LDF meeting also noted that the EC’s decision to use the 2002 electoral rolls as a reference point for preparing the latest electoral roll was fundamentally flawed. It noted that Kerala’s population has increased by an estimated 1.57 million since then. According to him, the number of polling stations in the state has increased by 10,000.
The LDF further noted that the EC, allegedly acting at the behest of its overlords the BJP, had made it impossibly difficult for large sections of the population to be included in the latest voter list. First, the LDF meeting noted that the EC did not accept Kerala ration cards as proof of valid identity. It mandated voters to submit a set of at least 12 hard-to-find documents, including proof of origin, residence and birth, within a short period of time to register as a bona fide voter. The meeting accused the EC of making voter registration a convoluted task bogged down by bureaucracy and difficult form filling.
Published – 02 Nov 2025 20:27 IST
